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Cheers! wrote:I wonder how the Kinlin xr200 compares against the alpha340 now. Considering the alpha340 gained weight and is close to the Kinlin.

I have found that the XR200 feels slightly stiffer when stress relieving when compared to the 340 (same spoke count, hubs, tension, etc). However, they seem to have very similar ride qualities. With that said, I think the XR200 is a much better bang for your buck clincher, where as the added price of the Stans only gets you a slightly more cohesive interface to setup tubeless.

i guess your going to have to include the new xentis 2.5 @ 1242g a wheel set. they also come with Full ceramic bearings. i would say the rims are anywhere between 360-375g depending on how much the hubs weigh.

What about taking some RS80 wheels on discount (particularly when everone moves to Shimano 11 speed) and rebuilding onto lighter, e.g. Tune hubs? Would be pricey, but I think you'd have a more robust rim which must build into a stiffer wheelset than than some of the aluminium only wheels. I have the Dura Ace C24s and I have to say they are great in the mountains and for general training. Since they ride nicely you soon forget about the weight.

However if I'm not one for taking a knife to a gunfight, so I ride my Mavic CCUs if it's going to get competitive. Second hand they are quite reasonable and while a bit behind the lightest wheels out there, they are stiff, brake well and don't require fiddly maintenance. I would recommend these for mountainous use as they are great all-round wheels - probably why a lot of the Mavic sponsored riders ride them for everything apart from bad cobbles and time trials.

It is a very nice rim, though I wonder what you'd lose vs. the factory build. Shimano and Campagnolo for that matter are phenomenally good at making low spoke count wheels, and have machinery to help them do so, which no wheelbuilder has access to.

these have probably Ultegra- class hubs so there's a room for weight gains. only problem is, would you gain or feel anything? for me it's all about light rims (rotating mass) and stiffness

as for building custom wheels - i had aplha 340 rims built for me with CX and Extralite hubs (cant remember which one) but they rode like crap (i'm only 65 kg) and had to sell them.. guess my wheel builder didnt do a great job...